It was just after 1:00 AM when a young gun struts in with a cold beer. He sits down in seat 10 and posts the big blind.

He gets settled in for a long night of poker. His eyes get big with excitement after seat 7 raises and I three bet it from seat 9. The kid is loving the action – this is his kind of table.

“I re-raise”, he says.

The action folds around to me. Even the original raiser folded, which surprised me because this is his first pre-flop raise in 6 hours.

“I am all-in”, I say to the new player whose freshly opened beer is starting to sweat.

“Wow. This is my first hand. What choice do I have?”

“You can fold those pocket Kings and drink your beer before it gets warm,” I tell him.

“I can’t fold this hand. You got Queens. I call.”

Seat 10 is all-in and shows K-K.

Truth be told, I almost wished I had Queens. I really was not that strong, and I should have folded when he four-bet it. That was the right move: fold. Maybe just call.

But, calling is not in my arsenal. I usually raise or fold.

Perhaps it was the young gun factor, or maybe it was the raise with the first hand. Or, maybe it was just simply that he was playing back at me that had me make him make a decision for all his chips.

I don’t know what it was, but I instinctively put him to the test.

“You got Queens, right?”

“No”, I reply as I flip my top card over: Ace.

Tony, the dealer, looks at me as he burns a card and counts out the flop.

The window card is a much needed Ace.

The turn is a Queen. I show my second hole card for two pair.

Seat 10, who has been standing this whole time, calls his buddy over. “I have not even had a drink of my beer yet. I got Kings cracked. My first hand!”

He drove 45 minutes to the casino, bought a beer, sat down with his entire bankroll for the night, and left after one hand. Ouch.

The guys at my end of the table had a good laugh at the expense of the spent young gun.

Like I have said before about pocket Aces, pocket Kings is just a pair after the flop. A pretty damn good pair, but just a pair nevertheless.

Let me describe five hands from the last session – four of which I was involved with – where pocket Kings were dealt. It may surprise you that in four of the five hands, the Kings were no good on the flop.

Hand #1: I have pocket Kings and played them fast. Heads-up, I bet half the pot after flopping a set. My opponent raised me and I folded. He showed the nut flush. I had 6 outs going to the turn for a full house and 1 out for quads. For the experts that think I played this wrong by folding top set to a nut flush, was a 3-to-1 dog to win the hand. I don’t chase cards or put my chips in bad. Fold was the right move.

Hand #2: I flop a set of Kings again, but there is a straight on-board with a flush draw. I am last to act, but cannot call a bet, a raise, and a caller. The original bet was 2X the pot. One could argue that the pot odds and the widely misunderstood implied odds were in my favor, but the bottom line is one player had a straight – a made hand – and the other was on a flush draw. We saw a river, and I would have lost.

Hand #3: I am under the gun and fold K-K. “Look at the rags I have to fold!” I tell the dealer who is a friend of mine and was dealing his first hand at my table. He looks and shoots me a look like I am fucking crazy. “Fold was the right move. Wait and see,” I respond. The player to my left had a big Ace judging from his reaction to his hole cards. My hand did not feel right – I felt an Ace was going to hit. Sure enough, the flop was A-6-6. The player to my right did in fact have A-Q. But, he got beat by the button with 6-7s.

Hand #4: Under the gun, I have K-K and make it $50 to go. I would normally not bet so hard – hell, I have a hard time getting action at $20 – but a drunk pimp just sat down in the big blind with $100 more than the allowed buy-in going on and on about felting me. He “just calls” and the flop comes 10-4-2 rainbow. I bet half the pot and he shoves all-in. I insta-call and he shows A-2 off. He was representing a set, but I did not put him on a pocket pair pre-flop. I win the hand.

Hand #5: A young lady in seat 2, who was a very solid player, raises pre-flop to $20. A grinder to her left thinks for a bit and calls. They go to the flop heads-up to see 10-2-2. I whisper to the player next to me from seat 9 that I laid down 5-2h. She bets hard. The grinder thinks a bit and calls. I tell the guy next me that she has Kings or Queens and the grinder flopped the nut boat. From my seat, it is obvious. The young lady bets the turn hard and the grinder shoves all-in. Ms. Kings goes into the tank. She has a tough decision. She starts to fold, then protects her hand. For her sake, I pray she folds. “Think long, think wrong,” I say to myself. She folds and shows K-K. The grinder shows pocket 10s. I congratulated her on a huge laydown by saying, “There is over 100 players in this room right now. Only three, maybe four, players could make that laydown. Very impressive!”

Pocket Kings is not a cinch hand, but it is a cinch way to get broke if you are not careful.

It has been 7 months since I  played my 7-2 game.

Many of you may be surprised that I would play the worst starting hand in poker. On purpose.

But, once a night, I will play 7-2 off like I have Aces. I do this about halfway through my session.

This is not without some self-imposed conditions. First, I only play it on the button or one off the button.

I only play it if I have respect at the table for playing monster hands.

If I can’t buy it on the flop, I am done unless I turn two pair or better.

Also, my 7-2 game only works against solid players either heads up or three-way action.

Take last night, for example. I raise preflop on the button with 7-2 and get calls from two rounders.

The flop comes A-K-3 rainbow.

Both players check to me and I make a reasonable bet of half the pot.

The first player folds.

The second player folds and shows 10-10.

I love representing a big hand with a big flop while holding rags. Winning the pot makes it even sweeter. Forget the fact that this is the rare time I would gamble, but then again, I am doing it with their own money.

Normally, I would muck the hand and stack their chips.

But, since the player showed, I showed. Professional courtesy, if you will.

The first player to fold claimed to have Q-Q and got tilty with me. Mr. Tens laughed it off with a “Nice play, Sammy!”

Under ideal conditions, I get a monster hand on the next hand.

As it turns out, last night was that kind of night. That’s right. I got K-K on the next hand.

Mr. Tilty and a few others limped in and I raise the same amount I did with 7-2. That is a key move there.

“You got 7-2 again, huh?” says Mr. Tilty. He re-raises me all in with A-9 off.

I insta-call and bust him with the Kings.

In a spread limit game, I would have been the one felted playing 7-2. In the Motor City, it pays my electric bill.

I folded K-K from seat 9 to the lucky lady who raised pre-flop to a measily $15. From her tells, I knew she had A-A.

Like many players, she played the bullets badly pre-flop and could not get away from them after the flop.

Just because you have the best starting hand, pocket Aces become damn near worthless many times after the flop. It is just a pair.

The flop comes 9h-9s-6s.

Three players are in the hand. Seat 5 bets out $50. Seat 6 calls. Seat 7 calls.

That is a disaster flop for A-A. You can’t beat trips or quads. You can’t beat a full house. And if one of your opponents is holding a straight draw and flush draw, you are a 2-to-1 dog to win the hand.

If it was me, I would have folded the Aces right there. But then again, I would have bet $45 pre-flop to get the A-9, K-9, and 9-6 type hands out of the pot.

The turn card is a King.

Seat 5 bets out $100. Seat 6 raises to $300. Seat 7 calls, followed by a call by Seat 5.

The river is an Ace. Very interesting card here.

Seat 5 goes all-in for another $300. Seat 6 knows he is now beat but feels pot committed and calls. Seat 7, of course, calls.

Seat 5 turns over A-9 for a rivered boat to beat seat 6 who flopped 9s full of 6s.

That’s right. The flop brought the case 9. See that all the time. A case card coming on the flop.

The lucky lady in seat survived being a 50-to-1 by catching the case Ace on the river for Aces full of 9s.

At that point, I shake my head. Another poorly played hand that got rewarded. This is when seat 8 starts treating the lucky lady like a pro.

I never judge or criticize the play of others at the table. It is their money. What do I care? But, if someone is wrong in their commentary, I will speak up and set it straight.

“That was pure luck. No read involved there. Hell, I am the one with the great read. I laid down Kings pre-flop and would have had Kings full on the turn and a total disaster on the river,” I say.

Seat 8 says, “What do you mean it was pure luck?”

“If she really had a good read, she would have folded on the flop knowing one player had trip 9s and the other one had a boat. Even if they only had a straight draw and flush draw, she is still behind in the hand. She caught the case Ace to win when she as a 50-to-1 dog to pull it out. That was luck not a read, bro.”

The lucky lady then says, “Sammy is right. I am not getting away from Aces. I got lucky. But here is the thing. I am here to have fun. I walked in with $200 and I expect to walk out with nothing.”

And 98 times out of 100, she walks out scratching her broke ass all the way home.

The one that made me almost puke at the table was me flopping Broadway with a gutshot Royal Flush on the turn.

My opponent was dead to the 7d. Guess what came on the river.

I went on a good, solid run yesterday. But, I would like to share the hand that, I think, was the last hand of my stretch of running bad.

I am in early position with K-K and raise to $25. Action folds around to a young kid who was a combination of very loose and a calling station. I knew I had him beat, but I watched him get incredibly lucky with rags ever since he sat down at the table.

By 7PM, he had gone up 4X from his buy-in. I had a side bet with two other players that this kid would be broke by 9PM. Cutting to the chase, I felted him at 8:30PM. The guy to my left took the under.

Back to the hand.

The flop comes A-Q-10 rainbow.

I bet out $50.

The kid calls.

I know he does not have an Ace. Had I mis-read his hand and given him respect for A-7 off or some garbage like that, I could have saved myself money.

But, I knew I was way ahead with K-K and a gutshot straight draw.

The turn is a Jack.

I bet out $100. I could have gone all-in with the hopes of ending it right there, but I knew this kid did not have “fold” in his arsenal.

He calls.

The river brings another Jack.

“I check,” I tell him.

The kid value bets $50.

“I can’t believe you just went runner-runner full house. Why are you even in this hand, bro?” I tell him.

He sits there studying the board.

“Do you realize that getting two perfect cards like that is a 989-to-1 longshot?”

I call and show the Kings.

Of course, he turns over J-10 offsuit for Jacks full.

When I get beat, I get beat bad it seems.

But, luck runs out. And his did less than an hour later when I felted him.

I, too, should have taken the under on my own side bet.

Getting the original raiser with pocket Kings to fold to my raise AND getting a calling station to call.

That is exactly what happened the other night at MotorCity Casino.

The first player to act makes it $150 to go. A player that saw every flop at any cost for two hours (he got broke four times and had to rebuy) called.

I am on the button with A-A and raise to $500.

And we wait.

And wait.

Finally, the original raiser folds. The calling station … calls.

The flop comes A-5-9 rainbow.

My opponent check-calls my bet of $500.

I put him on some kind of gutshot straight draw. A hand like 8-6 or 7-6 is certainly within his range.

Turn is a Queen.

My opponent checks.

I put him all-in.

He folds and tells me he had a straight draw. The way he said it was like he was pleading to see another card but did not want to go bust again.

I show the set of Aces and take it down.

The original raiser pulls me aside and tells me he had Kings and did not feel comfortable seeing a flop at that price.

Having been drawn out by Kings against Aces too many times before, I was grateful for the pot I won.

Like I need poker lessons from a short-stack that played it wrong and lost the hand.

I limp in on the button with J-10 diamonds.

The small blind raises to $10.

Everyone folds.

I call.

The flop comes Qd-9d-7s.

I have an open-ended straight draw and a flush draw.

There are 9 diamonds, 3 eights, and not knowing for sure if my opponent has pocket Kings or not, 3 kings for a total of 15 outs.

Without the Kings, I have 12 outs making this pretty much a coin-flip.

My opponent bets $20.

I call.

The turn is a 9. I made my straight.

My opponent goes all-in and I insta-call.

Next comes the speech on how bad I played and why am I even in the pot.

Young guns.

I listen to the three minute rant.

Then I launch into quoting Doyle Brunson: “I read Super System last night. Doyle says that if you have pocket Aces or pocket Queens and a potential straight comes on the flop, the right play is to fold your hand.” (I am para-phrasing of course, but that is the gist.)

The kid gets up from the table and walks up to my seat.

So, I continue my speech: “Listen, it was cheap to play on the button. Jack ten is the best hand to have for a straight. The flop gave me enough outs for us to be a coin-flip. You made it cheap for me on the flop to call. And I had position.”

Then comes the puppy dog eyes as if I gave him what he thinks is his first bad beat.

“The right play for you was to either move all-in on the flop and take your chances with me calling a coin-flip, or fold. Do you think you are a good enough player to fold pocket Kings?”

“Who folds pocket Kings?” he replies.

I have folded Kings more than I have shown them down.

And I am the donkey?

I raise to $25.

The action folds around to a woman who moves all-in on me for another $50.

I insta-call.

She shows 9-9 and is dominated.

The flop comes K-Q-10.

I have top set and she has a gut shot straight draw.

It is not the money at stake. I probably spent $75 already in tips for dealers and wait staff.

I typically take two or three bad beats a session.

For me, it is the emotional rollercoaster. I hate to lose, especially when I have the money in good.

The turn is a Jack. She hit the gutter.

I went from an 80% favorite to an 80% underdog with one card.

The river … a 10.

Winning in this game is never easy.